Iran’s Khamenei goes hiking month after surgery

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The official website of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says he went hiking in the mountains north of Tehran just one month after undergoing prostate surgery.

The 75-year-old Khamenei, who is known to be fond of walks and hiking, was accompanied by his entourage on the hike early on Friday morning.

His website, khamenei.ir, says this was Khamenei’s first time hiking since the surgery. It quotes the top leader as saying the hike was arranged on the recommendations of his physicians as physical exercise beneficial to the recovery process.

Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters, has been Iran’s top leader since 1989. He is a powerful defender of Iran’s clerical rule established by his predecessor, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.